If you’re a resident of North Carolina, you might have seen signs by a man named Dan Forest, who is running against Roy Cooper in the gubernatorial election this year. Back when I lived in my hometown, I would see signs for his campaign along with his slogan “Run Forest Run”— a homage to the classic film, “Forrest Gump.” I have to give Forest credit because that made his name memorable, but his political career has been anticlimactic thus far.
According to Ballotpedia, Forest has been North Carolina’s lieutenant governor since 2013. Earlier this year, he won his primary successfully and so did Gov. Cooper, as many thought Cooper would. Cooper has gotten quite a bad reputation throughout the entirety of this pandemic. I disagree with this sentiment because, while no leader is perfect, he has not only put the lives of individuals over monetary profit, but he has also been working dutifully with health care specialists to guide the reopening of North Carolina. People like to blame a leader like Cooper for simply doing his job. If you would like to see people criticizing Cooper for no legitimate reason, look under any tweet of his regarding COVID-19.
Since the spike of cases in North Carolina began again, Cooper has pushed back the end of phase 2 until Sept. 14. He has taken extreme precautions to protect the people, despite Forest’s claims on his website that, “While other states took extraordinary steps to help this vulnerable population, Gov. Cooper did nothing to protect them. As Governor, Dan Forest will put the health and safety of our most vulnerable first.”
This holds no validity at all because every time Cooper makes an announcement about the elderly and immunocompromised, he advises them to stay at home, with little to no visitations. According to North Carolina Health News, Cooper also provided nursing homes with guidance from health professionals on limiting contact, canceling group events and increasing testing.
Dan Forest’s platform isn’t too bad until you look at his website and notice that it looks like another crappy Republican website with misconstrued sources and a plethora of bland, already-seen-before conservative platitudes. For example, Forest describes “defending the Second Amendment,” claiming that Republican gun owners will never have their guns jeopardized. However, Cooper has never in his years of governing wanted to take away guns.
Mass shootings have become far too normalized in this country to the point where, last year, there were more shootings than there were days in the year. Yes, this should alarm you, gun owner or not. In light of the UNC-Charlotte shooting, Cooper proposed house bills to mend gaps in the background check systems for the ownership of firearms, increase firearm regulations and a “red flag” bill. I respect all Americans and their right to bear arms; however, instead of “thoughts and prayers,” we need action against gun violence, which is what Cooper is trying to do.
Besides the hearty Second Amendment, Forest also doesn’t believe in the use of masks outside a clinical setting. In addition to numerous health experts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have also bombarded the U.S. with evidence that masks reduce the spread of the virus significantly. Masks should have never been political, period. To make them political, well, we could only leave that to our knight in shining armor, President Trump. Forest and his campaign not only discourage people from wearing masks but also encourage his followers to disobey the experts.
Forest recently made a statewide fool of himself as he tried to sue Cooper for his executive orders regarding COVID-19. The News & Observer reported that Forest doesn’t believe Cooper should have all the power and should instead leave it up to a board of officials. As expected, the judge dismissed Forest and he eventually gave up his lawsuit.
Some of Cooper’s campaign staff believe this was a ploy to get Forest’s name back in the media and stir up some drama before elections roll around. I agree, as I had never seen any news about him until he began attacking Cooper. All in all, Dan Forest, I think it’s time to run your campaign into the ground before you make another embarrassing decision, or in your case, lawsuit, before Nov. 3.
